Sandro Rosell

[Beast]

I can't imagine Barca is decreasing in popularity in Spain after unprecedented success over these years, not to mention decline of other large clubs like Valencia, Zaragoza, Betis etc. Even in the region I am most familiar with, Asturias, you see many Barca shirts, and I think this particular region, people generally favour a Madrid/Spain outlook.

The constant independence anti-Spain talk of Laporta caused many -on-the-border- club fans to take an anti-Barca stance lately in their game against Racing he was almost kicked out from the post-game party usually made for presidents .
he lacks the diplomacy , while Barca is generally the second most supported club in Spain recent year their popularity declined in Spain due to Laporta not Barca as a club .

FCBarca , CA talk is documented and was in the press and in some cases (Uzbek deal ) world wide press like the Guardian

 

[Metaphysical]

in terms of sporting success laporta is as perfect a president as you can get. but he's got many many flaws apart from his relation with the sporting side of things and I can't see how anyone would deny that. it doesn't take away from what we've achieved with him at the helm, it just illuminates the fact that he's a bellend.

sandro would be just as much of a dictator as laporta, though. whether he'd lie as much is up for debate (he'd haveta go some) but if you recall the documentary about 03/04 it was sandro who was complaining the directors were "acting like flower children" trying to share power. not to mention he's a populist twat who just says what people wanna hear.

I'd love soriano to run. he struck me as the reasonable one of the main three directors that originally came to power. and he's the reason we're not in a financial crater, too. he doesn't have sandro's dynamism though, and would probably never win an election. so I hope he's on sandro's ticket (as it's likely he's gonna win - telling people what they wanna hear is a surefire way to win democratic elections).

 

[Super Pippo]

The constant independence anti-Spain talk of Laporta caused many -on-the-border- club fans to take an anti-Barca stance lately in their game against Racing he was almost kicked out from the post-game party usually made for presidents .
he lacks the diplomacy , while Barca is generally the second most supported club in Spain recent year their popularity declined in Spain due to Laporta not Barca as a club .

I understand your point, but I'm not sure thats actually the case from what I see, or atleast in any significant scale. For sure there are fans of football like myself, you, and most people here, who live, breathe etc football, and all absorb the journalism and inter-politics of the game. But then you have the mass follower of football, who is only interested in the 90' and nothing more, probably less, maybe just success. Ok you can say this is an individually less important figure, but certainly, collectively they are the main market. I don't see these people, the majority of football consumers, caring much about the tactfulness of Laporta.

For example, in Asturias most people are proud Spaniards, (though culturally I find them more different from Spain than nationalists like Basque and Catalan regions, but this is for another conversation). My friends father for example distributes all kinds of fine wine to restaurants in Oviedo. I noticed he did not stock Cava, so I asked why. His response was, "they want to be on their own, they will see what it means to be on their own". This is an attitude to Catalonia I find typical here, yet it doesn't bother many people to support Barca. I don't think the political views of people affects club support as much as we think is what I mean to say, in what would appear now to be in a long winded way...

Wether Laporta is any good or not is not for me to speculate on. But I don't think his presidency has harmed support, only increased it I would suggest.

 

[Cule Angles]

The attitude to Barça nowadays is certainly more hostile than it has been in previous years (maybe that's just because we're winning European cups though?) and I know Asturians, Valencians and others who previously had strong Barça sympathies but now see the club as something alien to them.

 

[Metaphysical]

The attitude to Barça nowadays is certainly more hostile than it has been in previous years (maybe that's just because we're winning European cups though?) and I know Asturians, Valencians and others who previously had strong Barça sympathies but now see the club as something alien to them.

comes with success.

it's easy to like a loser. they're cute and adorable and always try hard.

 

[FCBarca]

Zapatero is only in power because of Catalan votes, go figure.

Soooo, despite Zapatero being President of Spain, having the popularity of Catalans behind him and the outward and unabashed friendship for club & Laporta you point out how Spain is less inclined towards Catalunya Uhh, how does this translate to Laporta being bad for Spain let alone that having anything to do with the image of the club or his success with it?

His brother, if he was fired, was subsequently reappointed. The problem wasn't so much the brother's position so much as the fact that Laporta lied about Echavarría's membership of the FFF until a letter from the organisation was printed on the front cover of MD confirming that the guy is a member. All Laporta ever had to do was say "his politics are irrelevant, he's the best man for the job" but instead he chose to lie to the socis. Your point was about transparency, this incident shows Laporta's lack of such transparency despite the fact that he, along with Sandro, ran on the Elefant Blau ticket which promised to bring more openness to FCB.

As I said before, Laporta being a clearly devout Culé, you think he knowingly hid a Franco supporter on his staff?...Sounds ridiculous...Sounds more like he hired his brother in law, sounds like a family favor.

The Franco thing is a sore issue, I won't argue that...But technically, he's family and apparently he was a valued member of the board.

Even Rijkaard weighed in when he was initially dismissed

Rijkaard praised the work of Echevarría, who was the club director with closest links to the playing staff. ‘He did a great job’, the coach said, adding that his resignation was due to ‘external factors’.”

Still, it hardly resembles anything sinister...There have been no shady contracts, no shady money deals, no shady ways to acquire players, sell them etc...Laporta's tenure will be remembered for polishing a positive image of the club...Not that he hired and re-hired his brother in law.

Barça's solvency or otherwise is not the issue here, you accused Rosell of lacking transparency and chasing the euro which is a totally unsubstantiated charge. Credit for Barça's economic performance goes to Ferran Soriano, another man who Laporta alienated. Joan Laporta is not an economist.

Their solvency is relevant...If you're gonna take a shot, then know that Laporta was part of a board that turned things incredibly around, period....Rosell, on the other hand, was directly involved with the Brasilian transactions and Nike posturing to load up on those players at Barca...No Rosell, probably no Ronaldinho as he was going to go to ManYoo...And rather than sit and revel in the success of the club from afar, he was making constant trouble outside of it.

There's no basis for claiming that the departures of board members were due to anything other than irreconcilable differences between the president and the individuals involved. In fact it's a fact that you have to accept and Laporta has never disputed the reasons for people leaving. The people who went were all successful in their roles at the club, there was no reason for them to leave other than their total lack of faith in Joan Laporta.

Absolutely a basis...Of course there were differences that led to departures/resignations...I didn't contest that, just that the implication is that it was the members disgust with Laporta rather than perhaps Laporta's disgust with the members...Consider that?...Making my analogy to the military and political resignations apropos....And the implication that these members who left were so successful at what they did somehow negates the success the club had without them...How does that work, exactly?...Were they surplus to needs?...Or are you giving them more credit than they deserve?

So if you know about Spygate why do you claim a non-existant link between the 2003 bugs and the 2009 scandal? One was a bid by the previous regime to keep tabs on the new guys, the other was....well, who really knows?

The tragedy is that Joan Laporta should be beyond all doubt the greatest president we've ever had. The fact that he isn't is down to the reasons I have outlined, and you are yet to substantiate in any way, shape or form your claims that Sandro Rosell would bring a lack of transparency and a money-obsessed attitude to the club above and beyond that which Joan Laporta has overseen.

The tragedy might just be that you can't really find a way to be happy perhaps...Despite everything, Laporta will go out the greatest president ever - controversies and all...You may perseverate over it but most fans will not...The golden era like this one may never be repeated

I continue to say that Rosell played the role of hater from the sidelines...He had the agenda and couldn't be happy in the success, not much of a Culé, if you ask me.

Laporta is a lawyer who clearly bled blaugrana colors...Rosell is a businessman who's got his feet deep in Nike and his time in Brasil taught him about the dirty game of player sales...The same man who openly called for the no confidence vote recently...The man who was vocally upset when Laporta was selling Ronnie when it was clear to everyone he was 'done' as a player....Same person who slammed Laporta's absurd pursuit of a little known player from the Euros, Arshavin....And I don't recall Cruyff knocking Laporta and Johan has to figure into this, as well.

It can be argued that Rosell's success or popularity is in no small part due to the revolutionary election campaign he was a part of with Laporta...Taking credit, however, for what happened after he left (BEFORE the successes) is ridiculous...Even more so to take swipes from a far...THAT, sounds like a man with an ego problem

 

[Super Pippo]

The attitude to Barça nowadays is certainly more hostile than it has been in previous years (maybe that's just because we're winning European cups though?) and I know Asturians, Valencians and others who previously had strong Barça sympathies but now see the club as something alien to them.

Could be, I know Milan certainly get that, but then we are by far the most successful European club in Italia, you are not so, (in Spain).

Another example I can give is the president of my club, hugely devisive figure in Italia, always has been, (more than Laporta can ever be). Yet until the begining of his era Milan support was largely from within the city and Lombardia, it didn't have the truely large national fanbase of say Juventus. Thats certainly not the case now, we have fans globally even, yet Berlusconi is widely a figure of hate if not ridicule, particularly in Italia.

 

[FCBarca]

I understand your point, but I'm not sure thats actually the case from what I see, or atleast in any significant scale. For sure there are fans of football like myself, you, and most people here, who live, breathe etc football, and all absorb the journalism and inter-politics of the game. But then you have the mass follower of football, who is only interested in the 90' and nothing more, probably less, maybe just success. Ok you can say this is an individually less important figure, but certainly, collectively they are the main market. I don't see these people, the majority of football consumers, caring much about the tactfulness of Laporta.

For example, in Asturias most people are proud Spaniards, (though culturally I find them more different from Spain than nationalists like Basque and Catalan regions, but this is for another conversation). My friends father for example distributes all kinds of fine wine to restaurants in Oviedo. I noticed he did not stock Cava, so I asked why. His response was, "they want to be on their own, they will see what it means to be on their own". This is an attitude to Catalonia I find typical here, yet it doesn't bother many people to support Barca. I don't think the political views of people affects club support as much as we think is what I mean to say, in what would appear now to be in a long winded way...

Wether Laporta is any good or not is not for me to speculate on. But I don't think his presidency has harmed support, only increased it I would suggest.

My experience with Catalans is that they are as divided over Laporta as anyone would be with a politician or figure of note...Even Oleguer was vilified by many Catalans but viewed as an independence fighter by others.

And, yeah, there's no two ways about it...FC Barcelona is a political club whether Laporta is on the soapbox or not...They represent Catalunya...It's not just Visca Barca, it's Visca Barca et Visca Catalunya...That's part of the history...Plus, as others have mentioned, when you win, you breed the haters.

 

[La Furia]

Laporta is a twat, no doubt about it. FC Barcelona has long been a hotbed for Catalan nationalism, there's no doubt that it's a Catalan institution, but the club has also long had affiliations with people of all political backgrounds and remains a cultural icon in Spain...it's one thing to promote Catalan culture using the club but Laporta has put his political ambitions ahead of club interests and his words are alienating fans in other parts of Spain. There's also reasons to question his genuine passion for Catalan separatism when you consider his defense of Francoist family members, but that's another story.

His deals with Uzbekistan are also an embarrassment for the club, forging a relationship with a Uzbekistani club built on literal blood money is not exactly helping the club image.

But like all politicians you take the good with the bad, and Laporta has for the most part stuck to the same values when it comes to managing the most important parts of the club, and his reign has overall been one of, if not the most successful in club history. Nunez is still fondly remembered by a lot of supporters and his obsession with his own power probably did more harm over the years to the club than Laporta's political ambitions.

Rosell on the other hand has always been a two-faced snake whose biggest strengths were Nike connections and marketing. He has changed his "vision" for the club multiple times with the only consistency being promises to bring in players the club doesn't need but who will sell tickets, such as Cesc, Kun and Robinho. He condemned selling Ronaldinho FFS! Having Rosell and Perez run the two richest and most powerful clubs in the country will ruin La Liga, if not football in general, and I'm only being marginally hyperbolic when I say that.

 

[Cule Angles]

Soooo, despite Zapatero being President of Spain, having the popularity of Catalans behind him and the outward and unabashed friendship for club & Laporta you point out how Spain is less inclined towards Catalunya Uhh, how does this translate to Laporta being bad for Spain let alone that having anything to do with the image of the club or his success with it? It has as much to do with that as the fact that Zapatero is a Barça fan and has shown support for Laporta, a point you made. Keep up.




As I said before, Laporta being a clearly devout Culé, you think he knowingly hid a Franco supporter on his staff?...Sounds ridiculous...Sounds more like he hired his brother in law, sounds like a family favor. The evidence is out there to show that he lied about his brother in law's membership of the FFF.


Their solvency is relevant...If you're gonna take a shot, then know that Laporta was part of a board that turned things incredibly around, period....Rosell, on the other hand, was directly involved with the Brasilian transactions and Nike posturing to load up on those players at Barca...No Rosell, probably no Ronaldinho as he was going to go to ManYoo...And rather than sit and revel in the success of the club from afar, he was making constant trouble outside of it.

No Rosell, no Ronaldinho, no league in 2005, no double in 2006. And the solvency issue is NOT relevant to the point we are debating. We know where Laporta has been successful, I don't deny those facts, what is up for debate is his personality, his money hingry actions and the shady side of him which you choose to casually dismiss whilst criticising Sandro Rosell when he has done little or nothing of note.




Absolutely a basis...Of course there were differences that led to departures/resignations...I didn't contest that, just that the implication is that it was the members disgust with Laporta rather than perhaps Laporta's disgust with the members...Consider that?...Making my analogy to the military and political resignations apropos....And the implication that these members who left were so successful at what they did somehow negates the success the club had without them...How does that work, exactly?...Were they surplus to needs?...Or are you giving them more credit than they deserve?

I didn't say that their departure negates the subsequent success but last season is down to their hard work as well as Laporta's. Soriano, Ingla et al did all the hard work ahead of the treble season, the fact that they weren't there is irrelevant but once again you're veering off topic. The point in question is that these people left, not because they were surplus to requirements, not because Laporta wanted them to go, but because they couldn't work with the president's dictatorial nature any longer. Your analogy to political and military resignations is pie in the sky fantasy and has no relation to the events that unfolded at Can Barça, as anybody with the most basic knowledge would realise.




The tragedy might just be that you can't really find a way to be happy perhaps...Despite everything, Laporta will go out the greatest president ever - controversies and all...You may perseverate over it but most fans will not...The golden era like this one may never be repeated

He will leave as the most succesful. Period. The greatest? Up for debate. The most popular? Certainly not. I don't know what the word "perseverate" means but I can tell you that my mind is made up about Laporta and despite being somebody that supported him since 2003 (as others on here will testify I was staunchly in his favour) I believe that his actions have severely tainted his legacy.

I continue to say that Rosell played the role of hater from the sidelines...He had the agenda and couldn't be happy in the success, not much of a Culé, if you ask me.

Laporta is a lawyer who clearly bled blaugrana colors...Rosell is a businessman who's got his feet deep in Nike and his time in Brasil taught him about the dirty game of player sales...The same man who openly called for the no confidence vote recently...The man who was vocally upset when Laporta was selling Ronnie when it was clear to everyone he was 'done' as a player....Same person who slammed Laporta's absurd pursuit of a little known player from the Euros, Arshavin....And I don't recall Cruyff knocking Laporta and Johan has to figure into this, as well.

It can be argued that Rosell's success or popularity is in no small part due to the revolutionary election campaign he was a part of with Laporta...Taking credit, however, for what happened after he left (BEFORE the successes) is ridiculous...Even more so to take swipes from a far...THAT, sounds like a man with an ego problem

Barcelona is full of culés who "swipe from afar", there's a myriad of high profile socis who make it their business to critique what's going on at the club and it's part of the democratic process.

So he openly called for the moció de censura? You said yourself that you supported it at the time, I actually didn't and again there are people on here who will testify to that. I believed it would set a dangerous precedent and despite Laporta's faults he didn't deserve to be sacked after two barren seasons. I don't recall Rosell speaking out against the pursuit of Arshavin, but then again I tend to ignore transfer talk until it's all but confirmed. As for Cruyff well he's never criticised Laporta because he's got a president in charge that he can bend to his will.

To describe Laporta as somebody who "bleeds blaugrana" and reduce Rosell to "a businessman" is testament to your obvious personal bias. Try reading up on the Elefant Blau movement, see how involved Sandro was in their efforts to improve Barça, to bring the club closer to the fans once more. You are nobody to say that Sandro Rosell is not a true culé.

The fact is that your allegation of Rosell being shady or money hungry is nothing more than conjecture or a hunch that you have. Rosell and Laporta both came to Barça championing the same set of principles and only the current president has failed to uphold them.

.

 

[La Furia]

Are you trying to tell me Rosell's behind the scenes manoeuvrings to destabilize the club last summer were in the club's best interests?

 

[Cule Angles]

Could you be more precise about what actions you're referring to?

 

[G.J]

At CA, you could also argue that those boad members resigned because of the turmoil the club was in at the time, they didn't want any association with Laporta's reputation hence allowing them to run for presideny themselves. So they opted for their personal agendas rather than the stability of the club. The likes of Ingla and Soriano didn't seem to have conflicts with Laporta during his reign so there was nothing to suggest they left because they couldnt work with him anymore.
​

 

[Cule Angles]

Whether it was an issue of personality or morality it's still another board that has left Joan Laporta because of serious differences caused by the President and his leadership. The capability of those involved (Ingla, Soriano et al) is beyond all reasonable doubt.

 

[Poor_Sunyol]

The attitude to Barça nowadays is certainly more hostile than it has been in previous years (maybe that's just because we're winning European cups though?) and I know Asturians, Valencians and others who previously had strong Barça sympathies but now see the club as something alien to them.

Obviously that has nothing to do with you moving to Valencia.